Improvement in water-wheels



No. 48,737Y PATENTED JULY 11, 1865.-

' J. E. sTEvE-NsoN.

WATER WHEEL.

UNITED STATES PATENT :OFFICE- .n n..STEVENSOYMKOFNEW tonic, uw'.`

IMPRovEMENT' iN wrvreR'I-wi-i El-:,Ls'.4

Specilicntion*forming part of Letters'Patent No. 48,731, datediJuly 11, 1865.

- reference being had tothe accompanying drawvlugs,'forming part of this specification, in whiche l Figure l is a plan ortop view of the wheel and helix, the tubular shaft and spindle being in section, as indicatedl by the line a: Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a vertical section ofthe wheel, helix, and shaft, taken in the line yy, Fig. 1; Fig. 3', a detached plan or top view of the wheel. Fig'. 4 is a diagram' of the wheel, the buckets being developed on a plane for the purpose of ow-4 ing the passage ofthe water through the wheel; Fig. 5, a diagram of an ordinary wheel ofthe same class, drawn on the same plan, for the purpose oi' showing the difference between my improved wheel and one of the ordinary Iconstruction 5 Fig. 6, a detached and enlarged plan or top view of an improved step pertaining to my invention.

Similar letters of parts.

This invention' relates to certain improvements in horizontal water-wheels of that class commonly termed ,turbine wheelsg` and it consists in a peculiar manner of constructing the buckets, andiinv the arrangement of the same, the manner of hanging the wheel, and in' the construction of the step or bearin g which.l supports thesame, and also in the construction of the helix, all of which will be hereinafter fully shown and described, whereby it is believed that several advantages areobtained over the water-wheels of th is class as previously by the.uprights a, the helix being provided w-ithlps d at its lower ed ge, which are secured by boltsl c to the uprights. This helix'ls of circular `form in its horizontal section, a' porreference indicate like tion at the end which receives the water being tangential, as shown atfinrFig. 1, and of flar.

ing form laterally. The helix, in its vertical section` is of spiral form, gradually decreasingr in depth from its outer end ororiiice-to itsfin-v ner end, aswill be understood by referring to Fig.- 2. The helix, at its orice,'is provided witha g'te, which `is hung on a vertical axisg D represents the wheel, which-isattached-A or keyed to a tubular shaft, E, inwhich the iixed Vspiudle'A is fitted closely, so that the former mayturn freely'on oraround the latter. The tubular shaftE, near its'upper end, is enlarged to forma chamber, g, to receive Va.

socket, F, which is on. the'4 upper end of the' spindle A, and inlwhich a step', G-,is placed to serve as a rest or bearing for the lower end ot' a screw, H, `the upper part of whichis connected with the tubular shaft E bymeaus of' a 'feather and groove, so as to cause the screw to turn with the tubular shaft and admitot' the .latter being raised and lowered independently that by turning the nut I the tubular shaft E and wheel D may he raised or lowered and adjusted vertically as desired, so as to keep the upper edge of the wheel as close to the bottom or lower edge of the helix as may be without causing undue, friction. (See Fig. 2.)

The step G is-constructed iu a peculiar manner in order to insure perfect lubrication between it and the lower endet' the screw H. It is composed of a pieceof steel of dat or rectan guiar form in its transverse section and bent in coilor spiral shape, as shown in Fig. 6, so asto have its upper surface smooth or in one and the same plane, with a spiral groove extending from its center to its periphery. This spiral groove forma receptacle for oil and insures perfect lubrication for the lower end of screw H even if the whole surface of the `bottom of H is in close contact with the upper surface of G The ordinary solid s teel -steps -frequently heat badly, on account of' the spindle or-shaft which rests upon them running so close` in contact as to prevent the admission otoil v.between them,`

even it the socket F bem'ellisupplied and'per fectly free from dirt and lth.--.-lhis` contin-v gency is `fully obviatedv by 'thexspiral or coil shaped step G, andby the use of the tubular sha-ft E and xed spindle A the step is above the surface ofthe water, never submerged, and,

.buckets K of the wheel, as will be seen by re.

ferring tol Fig. 2, and at the-lower part of the helix and extending' all around above the wheel there are beveledv plates Z Z, one ateach. side, said plates gradually contracting the width of the helix to correspond tothe width of the buckets, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. This-eulargement ofthe helix laterally isa very important feature, for itis wellfknown that wa- .te'r inpassing through pipesvvisalways retard# ed at the -exterior of its column on accountof friction produced by the contact of the column with the pipe, and that consequently Vthe .in terior of the 'column of water will moveffaster than its exterior. It will be seen therefore that in `all turbine wheels which have been hitherto constructed, all of which havetheir helices equal in width to their buckets, consid-- crable .power is lost in 'consequence of the retardation of thewater in thelhelix by the-friction produced by the contact ofthe former against the sides' of the' helix.' .My-improvement eiectually obviates this difficulty; for by the increased'width of the helix over that of the buckets the column of water directly over the buckets and equal in width to them is not retarded by friction. 1

The buckets K of the wheel are between rims LL, the lower parts of which 'do not extend down to a common level with the lower ends or issues of the buckets, but are notched or have recesses, so" that the lower parts ot' thebucketse-say, a distance about one-thirdl of their len gthlare fullyexposed at eachI side, as shown by m in Figs. 2 and 3. By. this'means a free lateral discharge isallowed the water as it leaves the issues of the buckets. 'It is not obstructed, hemmed in, o r connedin the least,

as is the case withl the ordinary wheels or` those which have their rims-'mim ,extending down to a level withth'e issues'of the buckets all around the wheel. The buckets K are of rspiral form, and are curved slightly downward at their lower ends, as shown at n in Fig. 4.

The givingof this slight curvature to the lower' parts of the buckets, although. it may seem trival at firstl blush, is attended withjthe most important result. It is well known by experiments made with workin g wheels, that theangle that the water forms with the bottom of the Wheel in leaving it depends on the. velocity of the wheel'. It'` vthe latter be stationary the water will lbe dis- 'charged at an angle of about fteen degrees with the `horizontal line. If the wheel is running up to the velocity of the water, the latter will be discharged in a direction vcoinciding With-the direction the wheel is turning and at the same angle that the water enters the running at its working velocity, or seventytwo'per cent. of the velocity of the water, the angle of discharge is found to be about .fiftyseven degrees to the horizontal line in tbe direction the Wheelis running; In consequence' ot' the downward curve u atthe lower parts of the buckets the discharge of the water-is "facilitated by giving or allowing it its natural thereby" reducing friction and producing a greater percentage of discharge by increasing the velocity, -on -the principle of water A-discharging.l through conicallydivergeut tubes, producing a greater ratio of usefuleffect, and also giving a greater power to the same-sized :wheel over the old form of bucket.

To render the above clear, I will proceed to describe thepath of aparticleof Water through ione of my wheels, as follows:

'Head and fall 16 feet.

. External diameter of Wheel 48 inches.

Averagev diameter 3% inches. Number ot' buckets 12 Area-of discharge 220 sq. inches. Discharge of all the buckets in cubic feet per second 48.94312 w=discharge of one bucket in cubic feet per 'second v. 4.07859 a=cubic feet in'each division of buckets 0.05063 lu=velocity in feet per second of wheel. 22.9475 Velocity of discharge of water from wheel 80 per cent.

Length of first ordinate in feet. 0.28486 ,vmieugui of erst ordinate=o-2s4sc=a :length of second ordinate==0.5697 3a: -'=length o t' third ordinate=0.8545` 4wz=length of fourth ordinate.=1.1394

In order to describe the d' path of a particle or molecule of water passing through a wheel of this kind I have assumed the above head and fall, diameter of wheel',`&c..y'and mademy calculation'from a wheel actually at'work'and moving at a velocity of seventy-two per cent. of the maximum velocity of water under the above specified head and fall on the average diameter of wheel equal thirty-nine and onefourth inches, and the known actual discharge ofj wheel being eighty per cent. of. its actual measurement of issues.

The diagram Fig. 4 yis made on a scale of one andy one-half y:inch to' lone foot, or oneeighth'size,and the wheel being thirteen and one-half inches in depth, and the buckets shown developed ou a plane, we divide this intoas many equal parts'or divisions, andthe "et, l

wheel-fourteen degrees 5 and it' the wheel is direction on or a little before leavingthe wheel,

hypothesis assumed is -that all the water contained in the wheel at the same distance from the center moves with the same velocity as regards its perpendicular descent through the wheel. Gonsequent1y,if we calculate the quantity of water contained in each division between two buckets', and knowing the velocity ot' the wheel in feet per second of time, by the above formula we-'detrmine the space the wheel' passes through inone'second, orwin thetime the water passes through one division, which we nd to be 0.28486 feet, and by slipping off on eachsuccessive division ot' the wheel this distance a number of times corresponding with the divisions from a certain bucket, we trace the course of the water through the wheel.

In Fig. 5 the discharge ot water from the ordinary wheel of the same dimensions is shown by the same formula, the difference being solely due to the curvature at the issuesot the buckets ot' my improved wheel,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-v ters Eatent-I l.l The curving of the lower parts of the I buckets K of the wheel, substantially as and forthe purpose herein set forth. l i ,2.-The exposing ofthe lower parts of the Abuckets byvhaving the rims m m of the wheel at their lower ends cast orformed with recesses, substantially as described, to admit of a free lateral discharge of the water from the issues.

3. The spiral o r coil-shaped step G, in connection with the tubular shaft E, xed spindle A, and screw H, and with or without the bearing J, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The laterally-enlarged helix B, provided with the beveled or inclined plates l 1,01' their equivalents, for the purpose set forth.

5. The employment or y use of a screw, J, when applied to or used in connection with a Wheel provided with a tubular shaft and a helix in such a manner thatthe joint or space between the wheel and helix may be regulated as occasion may require.-

6. The combination of the wheel D, provided with the buckets curved at their lower ends or issues and laterally exposed, the tubular shaft E, tixed spindle F, screw El, and bearing J, all arranged substantially as .described.

J. E. STEVENSOIT. Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, C. L. ToPLIFF. 

